Thomas Routledge

author

Thomas Routledge

1819–1887

Best remembered for his work in papermaking, this Victorian writer brought practical industry knowledge to books on materials, inventions, and popular subjects. His surviving works show a knack for explaining technical ideas in a clear, approachable way.

1 Audiobook

Bamboo, Considered as a Paper-making Material With remarks upon its cultivation and treatment. Supplemented by a consideration of the present position of the paper trade in relation to the supply of raw material.

Bamboo, Considered as a Paper-making Material With remarks upon its cultivation and treatment. Supplemented by a consideration of the present position of the paper trade in relation to the supply of raw material.

by Thomas Routledge

About the author

Born in London on September 22, 1819, Thomas Routledge became closely associated with the paper trade and with the Ford Paper Mills near Sunderland. He is especially noted for promoting new raw materials for papermaking, including bamboo, and for writing about the industry from direct practical experience.

Among the works linked to him are Bamboo, Considered as a Paper-Making Material and other books on invention and useful knowledge. Those titles suggest the kind of author he was: curious, practical, and interested in making complex industrial topics understandable to general readers.

Routledge died in 1887. While a full literary biography is hard to confirm from readily available sources, the record that does survive presents him as both an industrial innovator and a writer whose books grew out of real-world expertise.